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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah County Clerk Aaron Davidson says he tracks how politicians cast their ballots.
Davidson, who wants to encourage voters to use drop boxes to return their ballots rather than the U.S. Postal Service, told the Deseret News that one of his critics, Sen. Mike McKell, R-Spanish Fork, is among the voters who "didn't put a stamp on his return ballot last election. I'm not sure what he did this election."
How does Davidson know whether McKell used a stamp or not when he mailed his ballot?
"Because I track. Every ballot envelope is tracked," he said. "I mean, the tracking mechanism tracks who returns their ballot how. I don't publicize it for everybody, but I think politicians that are out there advocating to make Utah County pay for your ballot return, those politicians need to be called out and said how they return their own ballot."
Davidson said he's tracked the way other political figures voted, too.
"I have a list of all the politicians, so I did," the county clerk said. "But I'm not publicizing it. If they want to make a big stink the way Mike McKell did, there's nothing in statute that says how you voted is a private record." He said he was referring to the process used to return a ballot and that the information is collected in a data file.
Davidson said he doesn't believe his action was inappropriate. "For politicians, I don't think it's inappropriate, if they're out there advocating a process that's not as safe and secure as another process and saying it's the same whether you put it in the mail or vote in person. Because I don't believe it's the same."
McKell said he said he intends to have Davidson's actions reviewed, possibly by the state elections office.
"I think if Aaron Davidson is tracking my personal ballot, I think that crosses a serious ethical line and is extremely troubling to me," McKell said, adding "it's none of his business how I vote, the method I use to vote. I am entitled to a constitutionally protected private ballot."
The state senator said he sent his June primary election ballot in without paying for postage "because a stamp is not required. I went online and made sure people knew that." He said he put his Nov. 5 general election ballot in a drop box.
Ahead of the primary, McKell posted a picture of the ballot instructions that stated postage was now required on X, formerly known as Twitter, telling followers, "Just a reminder in Utah County, if you forget to put a stamp on your ballot, it will still be delivered. This instructional piece is mostly political from the Utah County Clerk. Postage is NOT required."
McKell also posted a message aimed at Davidson: "This is political for you. Stop playing politics with my ballot. You need to be neutral and stop seeking your desired result" that ended with, "This is not okay or over!" In his response on X to that post, Davidson said he couldn't "help that my predecessors wanted to use taxpayer money to win your approval."
Davidson said Utah County doesn't pay for return postage on ballots to encourage voters to instead use the 28 drop boxes located in communities throughout the county, including a few that are inside municipal buildings that are available only during business hours.
"We do it because we feel that it's safer, it's more secure if you use our drop boxes as opposed to using the postal service. If you want the convenience of using the mail system, it's 73 cents," he said. Ballots without stamps are still processed, but the post office charges the county for the postage.
Davidson said it's McKell who's "making a political argument on that but for me, it was strictly a cost savings for the county and also to promote the use of a more secure way of returning your ballot." Asked if that could discourage some voters, Davidson said he doesn't "give too much credence to that argument because I'm not hearing it from the people themselves."
The "average person" who mails their ballot in without postage, he said, is "just taking advantages of the other taxpayers."
